Monday, May 26, 2008

The Age of Conversation 2008 edition.The number of contributors is more than doubled vs last year.The topic is: Why Don't people get it?My two cents is about Keeping secret in the Web 2.0 age.The incipit is:

You are reading, right here and right now, this page and cannot stop thinking about the process that brought you here.

(1)You heard about the book from one of the fellow bloggers co-authoring it, (2)or from the Facebook group (3)or from the Amazon book suggestion.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

There are words that had changed their meaning as time pass by.And there are words that are changing it or that are just on their way to do so.

One of this may be awareness.In marketing and advertising, awareness is the indicator of how known is a brand, a product.Some equation:

a) The higher the adv. budget, the higher the awareness.b) The higher the awareness, the easier to sell a good.

The quest for awareness has been the engine of the advertising world in the last, say, 30/40 years, maybe more, and the pillar of the marketing activities.

Today, I would like to suggest a new meaning in marketing for the word awareness.

Awareness as understanding, insight, knowledge.

The new awareness related to the Web 2.0 and social media that companies must develop not through massive adv. investment but through a real comprehension of their inner strenghten and weakness, of the inner nature of their brands and products, and more and more crucial the true perception and sentiment of the common people towards you, your company, your brand.

A time consuming scanning process, someone may say.A wise investment, I would call it.

This is, to me, the awareness that companies should look for because it’s via this awareness that they can enter in markets more and more fragmented with a discerning approach.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

While there is someone out there cashing on the myth of working far less, no more than 4 hours a week, most of marketers, communicators, advertisers, agencies all over the world do work far more.Why?

I have some thoughts I want to share with you:

- fragmentation is urging to get not only the big pictures but all the pixels, too

(pic by julianbleecker from Flickr)

- matching new forms of communication with old business and reporting models does seem a try to break a Guinness world record of people squeezed in a phone boot- conversation with customers does call for a far deeper knowledge of your business and your company: you never know what kind of question or issue may arise and must be quick in answering

Some answers?

- To spread the company culture- To create internal metrics to measure the success of marketing activity- To implement online marketing suites to manage complexity of data- To shift and delegate brand image activity to internal evangelists- To support external evangelists

There is a common ground in all these answers: knowledge.Today and tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, knowledge is and will be the most valuable asset to work better, if not less.

Knowing before and anticipating issues and catching opportunity is the way to stay ahead.You should no longer surf the waves but, as extreme skiers do, run ahead the avalanche.

Friday, May 09, 2008

Lately, an Italian blogger an journalist, Marco Montemagno, sent out invitation for the launch of Current, Al Gore's tv channel.Invitation was limited in numbers.This created a huge discussion in the blogosphere: why he invited him and not me, why I'm not mentioned, etc.The situation was really embarassing to me, as I watch the blogsphere from my specific point of view of being italian but living the international blogosphere and blogging in english (at least, I'm trying to do so).My feeling was of a small world of jealousy, poor or not at all sens of community, no willing to share.On the other side of the Ocean, a very good friend and blogging star (quoted in the The New York Times), Tim Jackson aka Masiguy had an horrible crush in cycling race.The unofficial community of bloggers, lead by Blue squirrel, start to support him with thoughts, prays and money (the US medical system is rather expensive, to say the least).A Paypal account was established in 24 hours, comments flocked to the blogger keeping the community updated on Tim's health condition.

The Web and the new form of communication are all about sharing, sharing knowledge, sharing friendship, sharing experience.

And I begun to think if this model could never been established in this small italian blogosphere.And I have no answer.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Yesterday I joined the IAB Forum in Rome, where I heard triumphant voices about the future of advertising on line, though in a rather old manner.Today I came through this post at Social Media Insider, from Catharine P.Taylor,titled

Because I agree on the fact that the future is in small but focused Social Networks, connecting people with attitude, while the Social hubs, as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, will be crowded by marginal audiences.And advertising is today running behind the Social hubs, trying to figure out a way to make money and it may catch them when the crucial targets will already be on the leave.